Dimitar Kovacevski, who was elected as the new leader of North Macedonia’s ruling Socialists, was confirmed as the country’s prime minister-designate on Tuesday (28 December) after Zoran Zaev formally resigned from the job, local media reported. President Stevo Pendarovski gave Kovacevski a mandate to form a new government after his ruling SDSM proposed him as the prime minister-designate late on Monday, the news portal Faktor reported. Last week, Zaev formally filed his resignation to parliament after he resigned as SDSM leader following his party’s loss in mayoral elections in October. In addition, North Macedonia, which joined NATO last year, wants to join the European Union but Bulgaria objects because of disputes over history and linguistics. The EU has not given North Macedonia the green light for membership negotiations yet.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 28, 2021 14:29 UTC